USA

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence and his Democratic challenger, California Sen. Kamala Harris, are poised to meet for a debate that will offer starkly different visions for a country confronting escalating crises.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday called an abrupt end to negotiations with Democrats over additional COVID-19 relief, delaying action until after the election despite ominous warnings from his own Federal Reserve chairman about the deteriorating conditions in the economy.

Trump tweeted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was “not negotiating in good faith” and said he’s asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to direct all his focus before the election into confirming his U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.

THE UNITED NATIONS, October 6. /TASS/: Western states were reluctant to listen to a speech by former head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Jose Bustani in the UN Security Council because they are afraid of the uncomfortable truth that the structure is politicized, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya told reporters on Monday.

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (NNN-TELESUR) — New guidance on immigration laws released by the United States Citizens and Immigration Services (USCIS) makes it almost impossible for members of a Communist or similar party to be granted permanent residence or US citizenship.

In a policy alert issued Oct 2, USCIS announced: “In general, unless otherwise exempt, any intending immigrant who is a member or affiliate of the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party … domestic or foreign, is inadmissible to the United States.”

Washington, Oct 6 (PTI) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Tokyo on Tuesday, the State Department said.

Pompeo and Jaishankar are in Tokyo to attend the second QUAD ministerial involving their counterparts from Australia and Japan.

While Pompeo and Jaishankar talk over the phone at frequent intervals, this is their first meeting after the recent border incursions by China in India.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a second six-month tranche of debt service relief for 28 low-income countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s fundraiser at his Bedminster golf club hours before he announced he had contracted the coronavirus was wrong and “put lives at risk,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday.

Murphy called the trip the “wrong decision at every level” and said it should have been canceled. He said the state is trying to keep tabs on the 206 attendees and 19 workers in an effort to thwart a potential outbreak stemming from the gathering Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has blocked new Food and Drug Administration guidelines on bringing potential vaccines for COVID-19 to market that would almost certainly have prevented their introduction before the Nov. 3 election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shuttered by COVID-19 infections, the Republican-led Senate is refusing to delay confirmation of President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court. They are even willing to make special arrangements so sick senators can vote for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, and Democrats appear powerless to stop them.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Monday that he’ll go to the Capitol “in a moon suit” to vote if he’s still testing positive for the coronavirus, which has killed more than 209,000 Americans and infected millions.

NEW YORK (AP) — The top U.S. public health agency said Monday that the coronavirus can spread more than 6 feet through the air, especially in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials maintained that such spread is uncommon and current social distancing guidelines still make sense.